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Tepetl
The Isles of Tepetl, also known as Tepti, are a group of large islands off the coast of Jarrland, and part of the Kingdom of the Isles. Geography The Isles of Tepetl, or Tepti, are three vast islands of whitish stone rising out of the ocean. The cliffs tower over a thousand feet above the waterline. Numerous rockfalls scar their surface, tumbling stone into the sea. Between the island lie treacherous shoals and rockpiles, making sailing extremely difficult. The two smaller islands, Eyrie and Ontaryo, are largely unexplored and known only as skywhale nesting grounds. The largest island, Suprema, hold the population. The interior of the islands are a wilderness of rocky, blocky hills, vast peat bogs of unknown depth, and forests of cedar and willow. The area receives large amounts of rain, but surprisingly few thunderstorms. Everything atop the islands is wet virtually year round. Navigation is difficult as everything is either slick or muddy. There is little native animals with three exceptions. First are the bog gnats, which feed on the peat bogs and breed in sky-darkening quantities. They provide food for the skywhales. Which swoop through the clouds and feed upon them. The gnats also feed a species of chameleon which dart around in large numbers. Suprema also holds two of the most distinctive features of the whole island group. It has a vast bite out of its north-eastern corner. At the apex of the bite lies the only natural harbor in the Isles. Feeding the harbor is a massive waterfall, several miles across at its base. Water from the tops of the islands filter through the rocks and seep out into pools. These pools cascade down into others, gradually gathering more and more water. Hundreds of stepped cascades later, the water falls into the bay. Locals believe these to be stairs cut into the towering cliffs by the gods themselves and call them the Stairs of the Gods. Regardless of their origin, climbing over and through the pools and cascades is the only way to the interior of Suprema. High up in the sheer cliffs of Suprema, facing south, are a series of cave openings, to the Caverns of Lamentation. From a distance, they seem almost supernaturally aligned and spaced. From them emanates a eerie, steady deep moan. The priests have studied it from above, and claim that there is a cycle to the intensity and pitch, growing in both over many months, then dropping off as slowly. No one has explored their depths as the force of the wind coming out of them is strong enough to knock a man over. People The natives here are Spriggans, similar in appearance and temperament to the ones from the islands farther to the south in the Broken Enclave. They live in strict Theocracy, which dictates all aspects of their lives - where they live, what they plant and eat, what they build, everything. The Spriggans live in small villages of cut-peat houses, and tend the plants and the bogs in the area. The largest concentration of them live along the Stairs of the Gods, tending and collecting the mussels and snails that grow on the rocks. These make up the bulk of their diet. They tend to be more reserved than their counterparts in the Broken Enclave, and less open to meeting other cultures. Part of this might be ascribed to their culture. It is known that they have turned away explorers from other lands, sending them to the continent or to the more fertile islands to the south. Resources The Isles of Tepti have two unique resources. The first is Breathing Peat. Large swaths of the interior are covered in peat bogs of unknown depth. This species of moss that grows atop it prefers the acidic waters of the bogs. It is strongly water absorbing, making it an excellent medium to grow seeds. But whe it is mixed three parts moss to one part soap, it slowly breaks down, giving off lots of oxygen. What use an oxygen creating plant could be remains unknown. The second is the Mithril willow. At first sight, these appear to be thin, scraggly willow plants growing around edges of bogs or on promontories within them. Their roots go deep into bog and into bedrock below. The plants seem to draw up mithril through their roots to strengthen their trunksand limbs. The Spriggans collect them and burn them, releasing mithril inside for use in tooling. Mithril is the hardest metal in an otherwise metal poor region. The Spriggans desire metals harder than mithril, to make forging easier. Religion C'reation Myth' The Spriggans believe they are the Caretakers of the City of the Gods. The city itself is the islands, with its vast and over sized scale buried under the peat bogs, waiting patiently for the Gods return. They believe they were chosen for this role and the Theocratic Hierarchy insist that it is their sole purpose in being. Ascension New Priests are selected by the Entrance Trials. This occurs once a year, on the day of the New Moons after the Summer Solstice. Male Spriggans of a select age gather at the base of the Entrance bog, the largest bog on Suprema. They go out into the bog and submerge themselves into its tangling darkness. They are subjected to the possibility of becoming entangled and dying, and the pressure and vapors of the decaying bog brings about frightening hallucinations. Those that stay submerged the longest are granted entrance into the priesthood and become highly respected members of society. Beliefs Deep within the bog is an entrance to what is believed to be Tepenal, the City of the Gods, built to a scale twice, if not three times the size of Spriggans. Deep under the bog, within this entrance lies the Door of the Stars, a mithril lattice door built of pure blue diamonds. They believe that these diamonds are the crystallized spirits of the gods themselves. To emerge from the bog with a blue-diamond marks that Spriggan as Blessed. Blessed Spriggans become Chamberlains, meditating upon their stone for guidance and sitting on the Grand Council of Advisers to the High Chamberlain. Hierarchy When the High Chamberlain dies, he is returned to the Entrance Bog to sink into the depths. A select honored few chosen from the Priesthood descend with the body. The last one to resurface is made High Chamberlain. Category:Regions Category:Island Regions Category:Regions in the Salterri Imperium Category:Regions of Telluris Category:Island Regions of Telluris